


Do You Believe In Soul Mates?

by TheIgnorantFool



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ed Swears, Edward Elric Swears, Future Fic, Light Angst, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:36:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20397715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIgnorantFool/pseuds/TheIgnorantFool
Summary: ...that doesn't mean you should start trying to analyze me like some... Transmutation circle that needs to be worked out. This doesn't change anything...





	Do You Believe In Soul Mates?

**Author's Note:**

> For RoyxEd Week 2019 - Day Two - Colorless. Late, they're all going to be late.
> 
> Possibly Gen or M/M, possibly Roy/Ed, likely 2003 canon. May remain a stand-alone with nothing else published in connection to this one-shot, in which case it will remain in a vague limbo regarding these subjects.

"I don't believe in soul mates," Ed muttered over his untouched mug. Roy looked up, tried not to make a face and - if Edward's expression was any indication - failed spectacularly.

"Don't be ridiculous-" The older man started, silenced by the daggers across the table. "Edward, just because you lack a mark doesn't mean you don't have-"

"Shut up!" Mustang was very happy to note that the coffee remained untouched with that outburst, it was far too likely to wind up shattered on the floor with the direction this exchange was going in. "I don't, I never have. It has nothing to do with the stupid _marks_, you idiot." In that moment, Roy was reminded abruptly of Ed's childhood and all the built-up resentment towards his father that had been stewing for years. Ah, yes. Hmm.

Ed turned the mug, sullen as he slipped his fingers through the handle and curled them around the side. So fragile and potentially dangerous in his hands and Roy noted, not without some irony, those words also applied to the younger man's emotions. "_Tread lightly_," Roy thought, but before he could even consider opening his mouth the blond was speaking once more.

"-know you, that doesn't mean you should start trying to analyze me like some... Transmutation circle that needs to be worked out. This doesn't change anything, I'm not any different and I don't need you trying to _fix_-" He cut himself off and Roy blinked, wondering what he could have done to trigger the interruption. "Anyway, where's yours? Since we're being so nosy about it."

"When I find it, you'll be the first to know." Roy's tone was as cool and detached as possible, taking a sip of his coffee to give the blond a moment to register his words.

"Why the fuck wouldn't you have-?"

"Oh, lots of reasons." It probably wasn't fair being amused at the younger's expense, but the fact that he wasn't connecting those dots quite as quickly as Mustang had suspected he would be, was entertaining, at least slightly. "I put some serious research into the topic myself when I realized ... Well, I wasn't getting any younger. Turns out it happens, usually if your soul mate has died or if you're lucky when just haven't met them yet. Imagine the relief of someone thinking they didn't have a soul mate for years only for their mark to turn up randomly one day? It's not supposed to happen that way but it does sometimes." Edward was scowling, hunching in on himself and lifting his shoulders as if that would shut the older man out but Roy wasn't going to let him. "Or maybe," He continued, drawing it out now intentionally just to watch Ed's reaction. "My _soul mate_ doesn't have one. Perhaps they have a scar and it never showed up where it was meant to or maybe... They've lost the limb completely."

There it was, Ed's expression turned completely feral with those last words. Exactly what he'd been building up to, he'd known it was coming and with just the right push he knew that he could keep it under some semblance of control. It was all in the delivery, if he'd been more direct he'd probably be wearing a certain alchemist's coffee right now, instead, the scowl had evolved. Edward was snarling across the table, grip on the mug enough to shatter it if he wasn't careful. "What kind of sick mind game are you playing?!" He snapped, only solidifying Roy's suspicions. Feral, all teeth and hostility, imposing body language that suggested he should be read as a threat - and Roy did, he wasn't completely ignorant - shielding the uncertainty and hint of fear in those eyes. It would have been convincing with anyone else, likely it was his years of experience with Ed that made him so easily readable to his former superior.

"I'm doing nothing of the sort. I merely thought that having a situation you could relate to might help ease..." Whatever it was that Edward seemed to be going through now that his life had finally settled down? Roy couldn't exactly say that to him. "Ed, you're not alone in this. Whether you have a soul mate or not, you're far from the only person without a mark and I'd really hate to see you give up on a future-"

Ed slammed the mug down on the table, other patrons were staring at the outburst that likely seemed violent and out of control to them. On the contrary, Roy knew just how much control the younger man would have had to put into slamming the mug without it shattering into pieces across the floor. The chair scraped back, hovering on two legs with the force of the movement as time stopped for the blink of an eye before he fled, a spooked deer after the gunshot.

"It's none of your damn business!"

**Author's Note:**

> I have a whole bunch of soul mate AUs I'm working on. They may or may not tie together in the same universe, I haven't really worked that out. This is likely 2003-verse, I have a vague idea for how and when it would work but since I haven't set anything in stone yet I didn't tag it as such.
> 
> This piece is *not* explicitly Roy/Ed. It's a one-shot and another connected piece may or may not put them together as a follow up to this one. If that happens it hasn't even been written so once again I was hesitant to include specific tags. I know the suggestion is to tag with your eventual outcome but I honestly don't know it yet.
> 
> Roy is **not** implying that he and Ed are soul mates, just that they're in a very similar situation, whether or not they are *are* soul mates is a topic for another piece but it wouldn't occur to him at this stage in the story.


End file.
